Letters from a Young Radical

Let it be known that I have no idea how our system works. I'm completely in the dark, probably along with millions of other americans and self-proclaimed non-adults such as myself.

I haven't finished the documentary, but I'm about half an hour into America : From Freedom to Fascism (mmmmm, heavy-handed title). The basic premise seems to be that there is no law requiring Americans to pay Federal Income Tax, the money of which goes to rich bankers at the Federal Reserve. Or something. He interviews a bunch of people at what looks like Venice Beach, CA, and everyone says "if it weren't required, I wouldn't pay income taxes".

Certainly I agree if my hard earned tax charity is going to feed the rich and powerful and their bottomless bellies, I wouldn't pay it either. But I got the feeling (perhaps misunderstood) that these people weren't privy to that rumor when they answered. I always assumed my taxes went to build roads and pay for homeless shelters and bridges and public transportation. If that's the case, I'd be glad to pay income taxes! Even if it is 30% of what I make...

I wonder if people are unwilling to put money towards the enhancement of public life? I wonder if it's not really going there. Hm.

Following is an email I recently sent to some of my friends and family:


I apologize in advance because this is largely unsolicited "preaching" on my part, but something really exciting is going on in America right now and most of you have either talked to me about the election or about politics in general and I really wanted to share my thoughts with you.

I went to an ISO (International Socialist Organization) event last night called "From Civil Rights to Black Power : Lessons for the Fight Against Racism" with Jessie Hagopian, an amazing speaker and ISO member, and Aaron Dixon, who founded the Seattle Black Panthers when he was 19, among a long list of other notable accomplishments. Although they talked a lot about history and racism, the election - and Obama in particular - was a big topic. This has been a weird year for me because I have friends and family who are emailing me saying "Please vote for Obama!" or "I'm voting for Hillary, she's amazing!". People are really excited about this election and it seems in particular people are absolutely in love with Obama, the "candidate for change".

What's been happening inside my head when people tell me how excited they are is that I turn into cynical Iris. I think about all of the things that I've come to believe both before and after I decided I was a Socialist. I think that the two party system is an illusion of choice between two rich politicians who owe nothing to anyone except the megacorporations that funded their campaign and the other rich, mostly white male people already in government positions. I think how I feel that voting in this kind of system is actually morally wrong. I think that even if there was such a thing as a well intentioned and talented potential for president, once they got into office they wouldn't be able to make any real changes anyway because the forces around them are far too strong.

But I'm not writing this email to try to convince anyone not to vote (I was hoping you would do it so that I don't have to), or that we must overthrow the capitalist pig dogs, or even that the system doesn't work. Last night the ISO showed me the err of my ways, so to speak, so I'm writing to talk to you about the same things Obama is talking to you about. It's really interesting to me that a mainstream politician is using a lot of the same words of the radical left, an example from a recent speech is that "change doesn't come from above, change must come from below". Socialists and other activists have been trying to tell people this stuff for years. It's ironic that Obama, the epitome of change from above, is saying these things, but I agree with him.

What's important to know is that Obama is filling a void left by the Bush administration. What he's saying is really resonating with people who have come out in record numbers to see him speak. It sounds like he started out fairly moderately, but had to push his campaign left in reaction to people's demands. This is amazing. This means that people in America really do want change, and politicians are being forced to react to this.

So we come to the big question: can Obama, or Hillary (or any candidate for that matter) change the world with their presidency? I'm still on the fence about exactly how much a president can influence the world on their own, although my friend John made a really good point in a recent, very thoughtful blog post, equating the president with a film director. What I do know is that presidents tend to get a lot of credit for caving into the demands of mass social movements. Nothing ever gets done from one person alone and the heroification of many of our historical figures masks that "change must come from below". From us.

I think its great that people are getting really excited about this election. I think its great that people love Obama, or Love Hillary, or Ron Paul or whoever. The reason is because people are finally fed up with the what's happened in the past 7 years (and potentially more than just that). People are radicalizing. People are PISSED. And candidates are responding to those demands, but I want you all to understand that as someone told me, "this is an election campaign, not a movement".

Whoever gets elected by promising change, we're going to have to continue to make demands because they aren't just going to magically make everything better. As Jessie said last night, we don't know whether he will follow through or not, but "which way he goes really depends on what we do". Anyone excited about change should vote, yes, but we should also get involved because just voting isn't going to change anything. There is a mass social movement to end the war, there is a mass social movement waiting to happen for universal health care, there are activist groups everywhere working towards change.

I'm certainly not accusing anyone of not making an appropriate level of effort - I know many of you are, and frankly I haven't talked to you much about it, and I'm certainly not an expert by any means. What I am saying is that someone has literally begged me to vote for Obama because he's going to make this or that happen, and I think this is misdirected energy. I want to know what you think so please let this be an opening for discussion if you agree or disagree or whatever.

To conclude I'll summarize something that was said in a recent debate in answer to the question "If Martin Luther King were alive today, why would he endorse you?". Obama's answer was that Martin Luther King wouldn't vote for any of us, he would be building a movement.

PS. I think in the future, this is how we should settle our differences.

I'm 24 years old and female with some gender ambiguity. I have a college degree, though I feel most heavily affected by my minor in Sociology. I've lived in five different cities in three states and I attended seven different schools including two high schools and three colleges. I've only been overseas once, to visit a small town in Japan. My parents are both art teachers and musicians. I want to be a musician. My parents were not religious, although my dad tried to teach me Native American traditions and my mom New Age and Astrology traditions. I wasn't interested in politics until I found myself talking philosophy with people twice my age. I wasn't interested in activism until someone told me to boycott Exxon-Mobile. I didn't have any context for 9/11 when it happened. I didn't get really excited about changing the world until I got a sociological perspective.